Recycling old Minn. barns gives ex-offenders new skills
When Scott Tempel and his wife Kara bought their 13-acre farm in Scott County, Minn., a year and a half ago, it came with a storybook dairy barn that had faded red boards, a steep metal roof and an old brick silo.
There was only one problem: It was falling apart. Tuesday, September, 02, 2014 - Minnesota Public Radio News - News

Farmers unfairly blamed for food prices
One of farmers’ longstanding complaints is that they’re often blamed unfairly for rising food prices. Now, two separate reports from the U.S. government show consumers are paying more for food, even as farmers receive less for what they produce. Tuesday, September, 02, 2014 - Agweek - News

Enrollment begins Sept. 2 for Dairy Margin Protection Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will open enrollment for the dairy Margin Protection Program on Sept. 2. The new program was authorized by the 2014 farm bill and aims to address volatility in the dairy marketplace, providing dairy farmers with a safety net when margins, the difference between milk prices and feed, fall below the farmer’s coverage level. Thursday, August, 28, 2014 - - News

Leading the way in biotechnology
Next month, scientists, executives and investors from all across the globe will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., to attend the Livestock Biotechnology Summit. This is the second time South Dakota will have hosted the Livestock Summit, which is sponsored by the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Monday, August, 25, 2014 - Agweek - News

ND, SD, Mont. get school meal grants
WASHINGTON — In a move that appears designed to counter criticism of the healthier school meals rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has given grants of more than a quarter million dollars to North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana to help implement the program in states where students, school food service directors and politicians have complained they don’t like some of the changes. Monday, August, 25, 2014 - Agweek - News

Forage supply and dairy production
BROOKINGS, S.D. — In the Upper Plains, it might not be economical, or even practical, to plant another grain crop during the growing year. But it might be in the producer’s interest to consider a cover crop to increase revenues. Monday, August, 25, 2014 - - News

Ode to farm moms
In Agweek, we talk a lot about farmers, cattle and crops. We talk about families who run their operations as a team, overcome hardships and make their work a success.
But only on rare occasions are we able to zero in on the real heart of the operation, the farm mom. Monday, August, 11, 2014 - Agweek - News

Today’s ag slanted toward crops
The reality of today’s agriculture is that it is heavily slanted toward crop production if the land has the potential to be converted to crops. Like it or not, for beef production to expand, the economics of the beef cow need to have a threefold increase in net returns to compete with crop production. Monday, August, 11, 2014 - Agweek - News

Irrigators get help from abroad, switch to sprinklers
All sugar beets grown for Sidney Sugars Inc. are irrigated, and that traditionally has meant some hard physical labor. But that presents a problem because labor is increasingly hard to come by in the midst of the big Bakken oilfield boom. Monday, August, 04, 2014 - Agweek - News